The perishable foods sections of most supermarkets and grocery stores such as the meat department, bakery, deli and produce department, typically include one or more in-store printers for printing labels with item name, weight or count, and price information. The labels are then applied to the packaged items. Many such printers are provided as part of in-store scales or systems including scales. FIG. 9A represents a front surface view of a typical pre-printed label 200 which may be utilized in the scale. The label 200 is often times pre-printed with store-specific information such as the store name and/or logo in a predetermined portion 202 of the label and a remaining portion 204 of the label is left blank to permit the scale printer to print product name, weight, price information, and product bar code in such space. FIG. 9B represents a front surface view of another label 210 which has been used in the past and which is pre-printed with store-specific information such as the store name and/or logo in a predetermined portion 212 and is also pre-printed in label portion 214 with an advertisement message/logo which may relate to any other product sold in the store. Remaining portion 216 is left blank to permit the scale printer to print product name, weight, price information, and product bar code in such space. The problem with the pre-printed advertisement is that it is permanent and cannot be adjusted at the store.
Increasingly, in-store equipment such as scales/scale systems may include a communications link for receiving information externally of the store. As used herein the term scale system refers to any scale device or any larger device which includes a scale, such as a weigh/wrap machine. For example, prior art scale systems exist in which pricing information in the goods database is updated remotely from a central location so that all related stores in a chain use the same pricing scheme. Chain personnel can also use communications links with in-store scale systems to monitor scale status/function. Still further, prior art in-store scale systems exist which are capable of printing two labels, one which includes the product and price information and another which prints a marketing message. An example of such a prior art system is illustrated in FIG. 10 where a store 300 is shown and external site 302 is shown. A scale system 304 including a controller 306 and associated printer 308 is located in the store 302, along with a second printer 310 which is connected to controller 306 for control thereby. The controller 306 is also connected via communications link 312 to a computer 314 at external site 302. In the illustrated system, computer 314 has been used to control pricing information used by scale 304 for printing on a first label by printer 308, and to also control merchandising messages printed on a second, separate label by printer 310, where the pricing information printed by printer 308 and the merchandising information printed by printer 310 related to the same product. Examples of merchandising messages printed on the second label by printer 310 include “Great For The Grill” or “100% Pure Ground Beef” or “50¢ Off”. Such prior art systems have also been used to print similar merchandising messages, regarding the product to which a pricing label is applied, on the pricing label itself.
Product manufacturers, distributors, advertisers and store operators are continually looking for new and improved ways to market and advertise products within the store. Accordingly, given the number of labels printed on a daily basis by such scales, and the fact that the packages containing such labels are typically placed directly in front of consumers or into the consumer's hands, it would be desirable to utilize such scales to deliver marketing and promotional messages for numerous products in a controlled manner.
In the label printing field it is also known to provide coupons on labels which are applied to products. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,797 provides a label structure which includes both a product bar code and a coupon bar code on a front surface of the label. The coupon portion of the label is designed to be torn off by the customer. However, some customers may not tear off the coupon. In such cases, this label structure can be problematic because checkout scanners can be confused by the presence of two bar codes on the label. Accordingly, it would also be desirable to provide a label structure which provides coupon capability while overcoming the aforementioned problem.